Ravaged by fire and neglect, this historic house once teetered on the brink of demolition

THIS IS THE STORY OF THE ENGINEER WHO BUILT IT, THE BOY WHO USED TO PLAY IN ITS GROUNDS ... AND THE FRIENDS WHO SAVED IT FOR POSTERITY

SOME people would say it’s just bricks and mortar but for Robin Ghosh, it’s personal. When he was a little boy, he would come to this place with his father, Brian, and play in the grounds. Now 40 years on, Ghosh’s son comes to play here too. Full circle. The place has changed of course. Big time. When Ghosh was coming to Seafield House in Ayr as a child, it was a children’s hospital where his father worked as a surgeon, but by the 1990s the health board had abandoned the building completely and it was empty and neglected.

You probably know what happened next because it happens to lots of old buildings: the vandals got in, there was a fire, the roof collapsed, and the talk was of pulling it down.

It almost happened as well. Two attempts were made to secure consent for demolition, but some concerned local residents formed a Friends Group in 2012 and kicked up a stink.

Some of the members of the group are here today to see what has become of the building now: saved, preserved, and on a sunny Scottish May day, looking very fine indeed. Robin Ghosh is here to show me round and as we tour the place, he tells me that he knew he had to save the building not just because of the personal connection but because of its history too.

Dating from the 1880s, Seafield House was the former home of Sir William Arrol, the great civil engineer and MP whose face features on the five-pound note.

A leading figure in the golden age of Victorian bridge building, Sir William’s work includes the Tay Bridge, the Forth Bridge and London’s Tower Bridge.

He first started work on Seafield House while working on Tower Bridge and envisaged a fine country mansion that would be a retreat from the pollution and noise of the city while also being within commuting distance of his iron works at Dalmarnock in Glasgow.

Constructed in the most beautiful butteryellow sandstone, the house had views out towards Arran in one direction and Ayr racecourse in the other; it’s said Sir William

Econstruct director Robin Ghosh (centre) with conservation architect Patrick Lorimer and Lianne Hackett, who are both Friends of Seafield House, pictured. The Ayr mansion was once home to engineer Sir William Arrol and later a children’s hospital. Now B-listed, the building has been restored by the Econstruct group to create luxury apartments